Mother's secret

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Movie
German title Mother's secret
Original title I remember mom
Country of production United States
original language English
Publishing year 1948
length 135 minutes
Rod
Director George Stevens
script DeWitt Bodeen
production George Stevens,
Harriet Parsons for RKO
music Roy Webb
camera Nicholas Musuraca
cut Robert Swink ,
Tholen Gladden
occupation

Secret of the Mother (OT: I Remember Mama ) is an American film from 1948 about the life of a family of Norwegian immigrants in the USA with Irene Dunne . Directed by George Stevens .

action

Katrin is writing the last chapter of her autobiographical novel. In flashbacks, she remembers her family in 1910. Katrin lives with her parents Marta and Lars Hansen, emigrants from Norway, and her siblings Christine, Dagmar and Nels in a modest house in San Francisco. Marta leads the family with a strict yet fair hand and therefore also manages the family assets, to which all members contribute as far as possible. When Nels expresses a desire to go to high school, everyone wants to help him fulfill the dream. Just as the financial affairs have been settled, Marta's junior sister Trina comes to visit and confesses to marrying Peter Thorkelson, an undertaker. Trina asks Marta to convey the good news to her sisters, Sigrid and Jenny. As expected, the two women laugh at the idea of ​​marriage at first, but Marta manages to get consent to the marriage with a charming threat.

The evening comes and the family's lodger, the penniless Jonathan Hyde, reads to the family from a novel by Charles Dickens, which especially moves Katrin. A short time later, Chris Halvorsen, Marta's friendly, if somewhat vulgar uncle and head of the extensive family, comes to visit with his girlfriend Jessie Brown. As soon as he arrives, he drives Dagmar, who suffers from an otitis media, to the hospital, although Marta and John have moral concerns about Chris' wild marriage to Jessie. In the meantime, Trina and Peter have also turned to Uncle Peter and obtained his blessing for their connection. Dagmar is operated on successfully.

The excitement in the Hansen household continues. Dagmar has just returned from the hospital when she learns of her cat's serious illness. That afternoon, Mr. Hyde moves out and Marta finds both a - unfortunately uncovered - check and the extensive book collection of her subtenant in his room. At first the family is very disappointed about Mr. Hyde's deception, but Marta explains that books, and thus knowledge and experience, are more valuable than any money in the world. Some time later, Marta learns that Uncle Chris is dying. Accompanied by Katrin, she drives to her uncle to say goodbye. On his deathbed, the old man reveals to the astonished Marta that he is completely burned out. At the same time, he admits to have been legally married to Jessie for years. However, due to the refusal of Sigrid and Jenny, he always kept this a secret. Everyone involved toasts one last time to Uncle Chris, who then dies with his family. Marta then tells her sisters the whole truth and silences their allegations.

Marta wants to help her daughter become a successful author and goes to see Florence Dana Moorhead, who is famous for her literary talent and her passion for good food. Marta convinces the author to read one of Katrin's stories in exchange for a secret recipe for meatballs. Marta comes home only to find Katrin tearing up all her designs. It was only when her mother told her about Miss Moorhead that she had the talent to be a great writer as long as she wrote about what she knew and had experienced that Katrin calmed down again. Katrin reworks one of her short stories and promptly receives a fee of $ 500. With the money she buys her mother a winter coat and at the same time confesses to her that she is the heroine of her story. She starts reading her story and the last sentence is: But most of all, I remember Mom.

background

The film is based on the play of the same name by John Van Druten and the underlying autobiographical novel Mama's Little Bank Account by Kathryn Forbes . The play has seen 713 performances since it premiered on Broadway in 1944 . RKO Pictures bought both the book rights for $ 50,000 and the rights to the play. Although the studio had secured access to the services of the stage actors, only Oskar Homolka appeared in the film. Mady Christians , the mom in the stage production, was not taken on, nor was the young Marlon Brando , who had made his Broadway debut as Nels . The casting of the main role was initially associated with some problems.

Producer Harriet Parsons, daughter of columnist Louella Parsons , initially wanted Katina Paxinou , a Greek who won the 1943 Oscar for Best Supporting Actress in Whom the Hour Strikes , for the role. Then Parsons toyed with the idea of persuading Greta Garbo to make a comeback. The actress, who received the offer in parallel with the role of the murderous Mrs. Paradine in The Paradin Case , sent a telegram with the line: No moms, no murderesses .

Marlene Dietrich's attempt to get herself talking about the role was also unsuccessful . She had her boyfriend, the director Mitchell Leisen , pretend at RKO Pictures, but received a rejection that she was far too glamorous and urbane for the demands of the part. It was George Stevens who, after the overwhelming financial success of Our Lives With Dad, proposed the film adaptation of a legendary Broadway hit, Irene Dunne . Both had already worked together on Chords of Love in 1941 and knew each other well. The film was made by Stevens with the usual attention to detail on location in San Francisco .

Dunne received her fifth and final nomination for Best Actress for the role , but lost to Jane Wyman in Silent Lips . It would still be Dunne's favorite role. She said in an interview:

“I think she is a wonderful woman. It was maybe the only time that I had a real character role. The film will always be something special for me. "

Irene Dunne and Barbara Bel Geddes repeated their roles on the popular radio show Lux Radio Theater on August 30, 1948. Shortly afterwards, the material became a very successful television series, which was broadcast from July 1949 to March 1957 with Peggy Wood as mom . In 1979 I Remember Mama was brought to the stage as a musical with Liv Ullmann , but without any particular success.

Theatrical release

The accuracy with which George Stevens directed the film resulted in an escalating budget totaling $ 3,068,000. Despite some glowing reviews, RKO ultimately suffered a loss of US $ 1,040,000. The studio also had to pay 50% of the revenue to Paramount Pictures . Shortly before distribution, Paramount had bought all the rights to the film from the production company Liberty Films , which Stevens had founded together with William Wyler and Frank Capra in 1946.

Reviews

There was a very benevolent review in the New York Times that found, among other things:

"Like the book and the play before, the film should prove to be irresistible, especially since producer and director George Stevens brought the John van Druten play to the screen thanks to a carefree adaptation by DeWitt Bodeen, with all its ingenious personality."

For the lexicon of international film , the film is a

"Carefully made family film without particular highlights, but with a lot of feeling and good actors."

Awards

The film went to the 1949 Academy Awards with five nominations , but did not win in any category:

  • Best Actor - Oskar Homolka
  • Best Actress - Irene Dunne
  • Best Supporting Actress - Barbara Bel Geddes
  • Best Supporting Actress - Ellen Corby
  • Best black and white camera - Nicholas Musuraca

The film received an award at the Golden Globe Awards:

  • Best Supporting Actress - Ellen Corby

Web links

literature

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ "No Mamas, no murderesses."
  2. ↑ “I thought she was a wonderful woman. It was probably the only time I played a real character part. It will always be very special to me ”.
  3. ↑ “Like the book and the play before it, the film […] should prove irresistible. For Producer-Director George Stevens has transferred the John van Druten play, via a free-wheeling script by DeWitt Bodeen, in all its genial personality to the screen. "
  4. ↑ Secret of the mother. In: Lexicon of International Films . Film service , accessed July 1, 2017 .Template: LdiF / Maintenance / Access used